Releasing the club/hands

[pusb365]

The fairly recent trend seems to be towards a more stable and square release. No rolling of the wrists and keeping the clubhead as square as possible for as long as possible, as per the images on the left below:

 


 

 

The theory is certainly very sound and makes perfect sense. However when you look at the swings of the best players in the world the vast majority of them appear to roll their wrists and turn the hands and clubface over very quickly:

 

 






 

 

 

I know these are the best in the world and have incredible hand eye coordintation, plus they practice a hell of a lot, so the timing element is less of a problem to them than us.

 

But it certainly seems like we need some wrist roll?

 

Obviously there's a difference between rolling the wrists and flipping.

 

What should the release look and feel like to you? Should we be rolling the wrists or trying to hold off the release?

[airjammer]

There is a balance between the to...as in all things golf. Unless you are coming in with a insta shallow clubhead to get the club to get that low and left exit your path will usually be too left.

 

I hate to use the slicefixer term but modern instruction is going for a more “leveraged” or another term “covered” releases. All of those you mentioned have the ball covered with their right side/shoulder. They also hit the ball higher and a couple hit draws which makes they have less of the low and left club exit. If you told them to hit a low pull cut they would have the low and left look. Because of the ball not being affected by the wind like balata..guys can hit it higher without worrying..their release is up and left more than low and left

 

[rebel11]

I also think some of it is feel versus real. All those tour pro's you showed pics of, I wouldn't be surprised if they feel like they really finish hard low and left. Just a thought. But I often wondered the same thing you bring up in this post.

[Zitlow]

The club is fully released when the club and right arm are lined up and the club face is at 45*.

 

 

 

 

[MPStrat]

> @pusb365 said:

> The fairly recent trend seems to be towards a more stable and square release. No rolling of the wrists and keeping the clubhead as square as possible for as long as possible, as per the images on the left below:

>

> 

>

>

> The theory is certainly very sound and makes perfect sense. However when you look at the swings of the best players in the world the vast majority of them appear to roll their wrists and turn the hands and clubface over very quickly:

>

>

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

>

>

>

> I know these are the best in the world and have incredible hand eye coordintation, plus they practice a **** of a lot, so the timing element is less of a problem to them than us.

>

> But it certainly seems like we need some wrist roll?

>

> Obviously there's a difference between rolling the wrists and flipping.

>

> What should the release look and feel like to you? Should we be rolling the wrists or trying to hold off the release?

 

This is an excellent post. I think the pursuit of the hold off "stable release" can be an absolute swing killer. There's a reason every tour player measured supinates the lead arm (rolls the wrists) a tremendous amount through the hitting area.

[Soloman1]

never mind

[Ri_Redneck]

IMHO, attempting to keep the clubface square, to the point in the followthrough in all those pics, will lead to wrist pain. The wrists should roll over naturally after impact. Whether they roll much prior to impact depends on how you grip and swing the club.

 

BT

[stingerfade]

All this images are 2d which doesn’t really show the real picture, what looks rolled over really is just fully extended in front of the sternum. Rahm might have a touch but Rory definitely isn’t rolled over.

 

This video at 1:55 is prob best explanation I’ve seen and really cleared things up for me (well looks like I can’t post links yet)

 

Look up HOW TO RELEASE THE GOLF CLUB AT IMPACT mark crossfield YouTube (yes he’s a little much sometimes but this vid is good)

 

[SirFuego]

> @pusb365 said:

> 

 

The screenshot above was taken from [this video of JT hitting a short iron](

"this video of JT hitting a short iron"). I would venture to guess the JT pic in your first post is more of a full swing. Looking at his attire and the background of the images, I wouldn't be surprised if those pictures were from the same round...

 

IMO, with relaxed forearms and wrists, the speed (and/or intent) of the swing is going to dictate how aggressively the club is released.

[MPStrat]

> @stingerfade said:

> All this images are 2d which doesn’t really show the real picture, what looks rolled over really is just fully extended in front of the sternum. Rahm might have a touch but Rory definitely isn’t rolled over.

>

> This video at 1:55 is prob best explanation I’ve seen and really cleared things up for me (well looks like I can’t post links yet)

>

> Look up HOW TO RELEASE THE GOLF CLUB AT IMPACT mark crossfield YouTube (yes he’s a little much sometimes but this vid is good)

>

 

These definitions are subjective, so they can be argued all day long and no one ever wins, but Rory rolls the wrists (supinates the lead arm) a tremendous amount through the hitting area.

 

The look of the arms slinging way out away from the body from DTL is not a release problem.

[Ri_Redneck]

I would hazard to guess that the first pic is a full stock shot and the second is a knock-down approach.

BT

[SPIF]

Lots of ways to swing, but the angles from the screenshots you posted (minus Xander and Rose) are significantly different than the original pictures. The camera angles are from closer and further to the right which will give the impression of a more armsy release.

[glk]

this has been measured and crossfield video is very misleading. Pros supinate the lead forearm a ton. Trythese videos

 

[stingerfade]

Supinating and “rolling over” the wrists like everyone was taught years ago are different IMO. All good players supinate the arm through impact but that doesn’t mean your wrists snap through impact like previously thought. Think of Watson saying to try and touch the insides of your forearms through impact back in the day. No one says that anymore

[GungHoGolf]

Personally I've gone back and forth between the "drive/hold" release style with a stronger grip and attempting to keep the clubface "more square to the path" throughout the swing, and the "full lead-arm supination/rolling" release with a weaker grip, allowing the club to open 90 deg to the path at the top over the years (toe-up to toe-up). I'm currently using the latter style.

The drive/hold usually results in straighter shots for me, but distance suffers by at least 10%, it doesn't feel like an "athletic" move, and I tend to come into the ball with a steeper AoA which leads to contact issues (thins/fats).

A couple of videos I've learned from on this subject:

 

[LyinEye]

Nice address position

 

[95124hacker]

Wouldn’t the square “hold” anti-roll release lead to a chicken wing?

[stingerfade]

Only if you stop rotating the body

[BMC]

The ball is long gone at the point those images are taken. Impact is what matters.

[Golfbeat]

Good and consistent impact is what matters and what your brain, arms and body need to do to get there.

[glk]

Supination in a good release happens differently than the “rolling over” - but both invoke supination. To me, the difference is that when rolling over most typically the person involves the shoulders too much whereas in a good release it comes from the elbow to the wrist - probably cause they were told to roll them so they force the movement and in a good release the supination happens due the arms extending. Watson’s feel works for a good release but not a rollover where the elbows will get further apart or at least not closer.